Götterdämmerung
by Haelos
Summary: The Marvel universe has been infiltrated by a strange yet simple man by the name of Aaron. But if he is so simple, why are Odin, Reed Richards, Victor von Doom, and even Sentry terrified by his presence? What is it he is capable of that puts fear into the hearts of the universe's greatest heroes and villains? [Contains one OC and some AU themes]
1. Aaron

Thor looked out from his balcony to the realm eternal, Asgard. The dwindling twilight flashed over the great sea flanking the Bifröst Bridge, where Heimdallr stood watching the cosmos and guarding the entrance to and exit from Asgard. He leaned on his right hand, propped up by his elbow, and allowed a smile to come across his face. The evening was so peaceful now that he didn't have any enemies to fight. New York was long behind him, and the fall of his pride on Earth before that seemed an eternity away. With Mjölnir safely at his side, as it always was, for the first time in what seemed like forever, Thor was glad for the grace of enjoying an evening.

Three strong raps at his door shattered that grace. Groaning, Thor hoisted Mjölnir off the ground and walked to his door. To his surprise, instead of a servant or messenger, his own mother was standing before him. In an instant Thor knew his evening was gone, for worry was bright in her eyes.

"It's your father," she said softly. "He's gone into a fit and shut himself in his room. He won't see any of his friends and demands to speak with you and you alone." She laid herself on Thor's mighty armor, and Thor gathered his mother into his arms. This was unusual indeed.

"I will speak with him," Thor answered. "Knowing father, he might have just hit the mead a little too hard."

"Oh Thor you know your father doesn't drink!" his mother cried, tossing herself away from him and rushing down the hall. Thor sighed; his jokes were still a little on the poor side thanks to spending time on Earth. Closing his door, Thor walked down the hall towards his father's bedroom.

0-0-0-0-0

When Thor arrived at his father's chambers, he found Odin to be in a frightful state, as well as his room. The bed was in disarray. Curtains had been torn down. Clothing and trophy weapons were scattered across the floor. Out on the balcony Thor found Odin clutching the railing with such tension the marble was actually beginning to crack.

"Thor? Odinson? Is that you?" Odin asked without turning around. His long white hair didn't move as he spoke, and Gungnir was laying against the edge of the railing. Thor took notice of the fact that Odin didn't bother to move. Their rooms were on the same side of the Asgardian palace, and as Thor followed his father's gaze, he could see him looking at where Heimdallr guarded the Bifröst.

"Yes father, I am here," Thor answered.

"Trouble is afoot my lad," Odin said. He still had not moved. "Terrible trouble."

"Allfather—" Thor began, laying a hand on Odin's shoulder. Odin turned around in a flash, grabbing Thor's hand and slamming the boy into the wall behind them. Cracks jumped up the face of the marble palace, but Thor was unafraid. Odin was, after all, his father.

"Problems, my lad! Awful events are going to happen!" Odin was saying, rambling on and on about the horrific events to come and how no one would be able to stop it.

"Odin!" Thor finally had to cry out in anguish. The Allfather still had him pinned to the wall and the grip on Thor's wrist was heavier than Mjölnir to a mortal. "Speak true, father. What is wrong? These kinds of things don't just happen, you must tell me what is going on." Some sense seemed to be scratched into Odin's conscious, and Odin released his son. Thor watched as Odin returned to his original spot, taking Gungnir firmly in his hand. He leaned upon it as an old man would lean upon a very tall cane, and looked again to the Bifröst.

"A man who has no business existing in this dimension has appeared on Earth," Odin finally said. To say Thor was confused was an understatement. He remained silent, hoping for Odin to continue. "A great, terrifying being who's very presence shakes all of Yggdrasill. I fear... I fear the worst." Thor almost gasped. The words 'I fear' had not escaped the Allfather's mouth in many, many eons.

"Is that why you called me? To combat this menace?" Thor's blood was beginning to stir at the prospect of battle, even though he remembered well what Odin once told him about the kings who seek battle and are prepared for it. "I see no other reason why I should be told of this."

"In due time you will be called to battle by your friends," Odin replied. "I will never willingly send my son into the fray against that... That..." Odin lost his words for a moment, and he struck Gungnir into the ground in a flash of anger. Thor waited quietly for Odin's temper to fade for a little, then spoke.

"The man of iron will contact me if it is too fierce of a problem for them to combat, I'm sure," Thor said. "But the people of Earth have mighty heroes to defend them. With Banner and the director of SHIELD on the forefront of defense, Earth could not be in better hands. Allfather." Thor saw that Odin was not listening, his eyes still locked on Heimdallr's post at the edge of the Bifröst.

"Mark my words," Odin was saying. "The day will come when they call upon you, and the people of Midgard will desperately need our help. It might even be the day of reckoning, my boy. Ragnarök."

"Ragnarök is a long ways off, Allfather," Thor replied, a little shaken by the word he was forbidden to use in the palace for a very long time. "I doubt this new threat on Earth will bring about the end of Asgard and Midgard."

"Time will tell," Odin responded, and they both fell silent, looking out to Heimdallr's gate.

0-0-0-0-0

It was 2 in the morning when Reed Richards awoke to a call on his secure cell phone from an unknown number halfway across the world.

He slipped out of the bedroom quietly. The last thing he wanted to do was to wake up his wife, Susan. It was a miracle the phone buzzing on his nightstand didn't wake her up. He thanked his lucky stars that Susan was a hard sleeper.

"Hello?" Reed managed, wiping his face with his hand as he walked down the hall to his study. Who on Earth was going to call at 2 in the morning?

"Reed," came the smooth, almost sleazy voice from the other end of the phone. Reed stopped in his tracks. It was Victor von Doom.

"Victor?" Reed whispered, still unmoving.

"Best get to your study, Reed. You're going to want to be sitting for this." Reed made a sound of half-disgust and walked to his study without saying another word. When he finally sat down and was leaning back in his chair, Victor began to speak again. "Just thought I should let you know that I found something you weren't awake to see. Something very, very big."

"Congratulations Victor," Reed said humorlessly. "If that's all you've got for me, I'm going to bed now."

"And this also happened to register a 0.02 on my Tegmark scale," Victor added. Silence came out the mouth of Reed Richards, one of the greatest scientific minds of all time.

"It..." Reed gulped. "What?"

"0.02, Reed," Victor replied, his voice heavy with excitement and fear. "Even when New York was happening with the Avengers initiative, it didn't even ping on my Tegmark scale. I couldn't even get the scale to register anything until Sentry and Banner had it out in Manhattan. And then that event was in the high trillions, nowhere close to absolute zero. This is the single biggest event to ever occur in the history of the universe!"

"What is it?" Reed was asking, turning on all of his equipment and running hundreds of scans. "Something of this magnitude should have broken every sensor on Earth, ripped apart the dimensions, disrupted phone calls, merged Asgard with Midgard—"

"You leave those arrogant 'gods' out of this," Victor snapped. "They have nothing to do with this at all."

"What is it, Victor? What could it possibly be? Where is it? How did it not rip apart all of reality? Something that close to absolute zero must be phenomenally powerful." Reed was now looking through charts. He hurriedly plugged his phone into a speakerbox and turned it up high in case he had to cross the room. "Nothing in my charts even comes close to mirroring this. Galactus's appearance with the Silver Surfer for the first time, after we had gotten used to our powers, was in the high quentillions on your Tegmark scale if I remember correctly."

"Approximately, yes," Victor replied. "But here's the biggest news, Reed. It's right down the road from you." Richards was immediately back at the phone, talking to it hurriedly as if his words were the last words he would ever speak again.

"Right down the road? Here, in New York? Where? I see nothing on my sensors right now," Reed responded.

"Listen, Reed, the source of the 0.02 reading is—"

The line went dead out of nowhere. No dropped call ringback, no phone-call ended ringback, nothing. Sound ceased to come from the phone and the printed phone number dropped off the screen, showing Reed's phone background. Reed reached for the phone to dial back the number, but at that moment he got a text message from no number. It simply read "New Message from: " without a phone number after it. Hesitantly, he opened the message and read its contents.

_Let's not spoil where I am. I'm enjoying all of this attention._

Across the world, Victor was staring in horror at his own phone screen. After the call turned off without warning, he had received a text from no one at all; no phone number was present on the screen. After reading its contents, Victor dropped his phone on the floor and walked out of his apartment, intent on buying a one-way ticket to New York City.

_Quit hiding behind a computer and look for me in person, Victor. I hear you like games of cat-and-mouse._

0-0-0-0-0

Robert Reynolds held his knees close to his chest, watching television in his apartment as he had been when Hulk returned from Planet Hulk for justice on those who banished him. He had just received a phone call from Reed Richards that a single entity had been identified on Dr. Doom's Tegmark device, scoring a whopping scale reading of 0.02. No one but Dr. Doom knew what would happen if an event were to ever register at absolute 0, or what would even be needed to make such a thing happen.

Sentry felt confident in his immense powers, most of which he had not even begun to tap into out of fear of what he would be able to do. But to face something which registered a 0.02 on the Tegmark scale when he and Hulk couldn't place above high trillions during their battle... Robert hugged his knees tighter and closed his eyes, trying to wish it all away from existence. The TV still blared bad news about common human events, however, and Reed's excited and scared voice still echoed in his head.

Sentry closed his hands around his ears, trying to shut out the sounds of the world. The TV still blared. Reed's voice still echoed. The tortuous number 0.02 rolled around in his mind. Robert shook his head, trying to push it out of his mind. The TV blared louder. Reed's voice told him about the event. The number was bigger and larger, and it screamed at Robert, yelling and shaking and dragging his ears through seas of broken glass—

Robert finally had to scream out loud, and immediately he was teleported from his apartment to a distant planet. His body erupted into a harsh light, ripping a wide part of the planet apart in just one second. When Sentry finally stopped screaming, he let his body go limp, and was teleported back to his apartment. Robert thanked his instincts for reacting so quickly to his outburst.

Truth be told, Robert knew he was scared. Scared of going outside, scared of his powers, scared of facing a monster of such a high caliber as one that had just appeared. Sentry turned down the television and closed his eyes. He knew, however, that he couldn't run from the outside world forever.

0-0-0-0-0

The young man sitting at the corner booth of a coffee shop pulled a strand of long, dark red hair out of his eyes. He looked out of his thin, square glasses to the busy streets of New York City, where the cars were bumper-to-bumper and horns cut through the air every now and again. A young girl came up to his booth and politely cleared her throat, catching his attention. When he fixed her with his calm, soft blue eyes, the waitress involuntarily gasped. They were the most aesthetically pleasing eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.

"Can I get you anything?" she finally asked, a little taken aback by the young man's striking facial features. His gorgeous hair and beautiful eyes were further complimented by his lean face, with prominent cheekbones and well-formed lips. His forehead was broad, though it was mostly covered by his lengthy bangs.

"A coffee would be great, Marilyn," he replied, his eyes never once darting to her name tag. "As well as a maple-glazed donut, if you have any."

"We have maple-glazed," Marilyn said, jotting down his order. "I'll make sure to get you a fresh one, on the house." She winked flirtatiously, and the young man laughed shortly. She shared in his laugh, adoring the wonderful sound. "Can I get a name with this? For the customer count-up at the end of the day."

"Aaron," the young man replied. "My name is Aaron."


	2. Connections

Victor von Doom cracked his knuckles and looked across Reed's study to see Mr. Fantastic reaching to the top of a bookcase one level up, as it was a two level room. He turned away, trying to hide his hatred for the man who ruined his life. Or did he owe Reed for making his life better? Victor looked at his forearm, slivers of metal trying to cut through his skin to encase him in that sarcophagus again. He remembered the feeling of nearly suffocating at the hands of the metal, and then he remembered the feeling of rebirth when he could breathe again. Victor closed his fists tightly. Being in this room with Reed was dangerous.

"I can't find anything in mythology about an event like this," Reed called from across the room. He was now on the second floor. Victor stood and began pacing, running ideas through his mind. "Anything I find is either not quite what I'm looking for, or so far off point it's preposterous." Victor was still deep in thought when Reed clamped a book shut firmly, placing it back on a shelf. "How did your Tegmark scale manage to pick up something like this anyways? It could have been just a fluke, you know."

"Reed, you know that the Tegmark measures universal energy and general multiverse interaction. After the coming of the Surfer, when Galactus was attacking Earth, the universal energy was put out of balance. Many of the people you and I associate with today were put into trouble, which was a big thing." Victor stopped pacing, scratching his chin thoughtfully. "I suppose it might have been the Surfer's rebellion against Galactus that caused the Tegmark to register the event. Sentry and Hulk's battle is easy enough to explain. Sentry losing control, Hulk on a power trip that was capable of taking down the planet... No wonder it registered, but even that was in the high trillions."

"Cut to the chase, Victor," Reed said bluntly. He was getting impatient with the unnecessary explaining.

"The multiverse, Reed. There is no doubt more than one universe, more than one you, more than one me. We've seen these things, you and I know they exist." Victor looked up to Reed, standing a building level above him. "So what if this event was someone breaking through the multiverse into our universe?"

"Then it wouldn't have registered on the Tegmark," Reed replied. "Our parallel universe selves have interacted with us before, sometimes in a hostile manner, but it was never anything that caused ramifications for the whole universe. While two people cannot exist in one plane of reality, it's not a universe-breaking paradox."

"How about someone that was never meant to exist?" Victor challenged. To his astonishment, Reed went silent. It was obvious he was thinking. "What if there was someone who, for some reason, was trapped in a nether dimension where he or she was never supposed to escape? And after being trapped, the multiverse was created as a web to lock them up?" Reed was, again, silent. "A whole universe, full of races uncountable and languages innumerable, becoming more and more complex through the years to tighten the chain around a single entity who has no business existing in any universe ever created?"

"What if that was the purpose of the universe? The purpose of life?" Reed was saying, walking towards the stairs so he could speak with Victor face to face. "To contain such an entity, or perhaps an item for that entity which would bring about a dangerous event?" When Reed reached Victor, they saw mutual curiosity mirrored in each other's eyes.

"No item would have that power," Victor replied. "Not even the Tesseract would be that strong."

"What about the Cosmic Cube?" Reed tried.

"It didn't even register on my Tegmark scale when it was being used," Victor answered. "Only Hulk, Sentry, and Galactus have registered on the Tegmark. And now this new entity, this new event, this new... calamity, has shattered each of those numbers without so much as disrupting the morning breeze!"

"Victor, I have to know now. What happens when the Tegmark scale registers absolute zero?" Reed asked softly. Victor looked Reed square in the eyes, and Reed Richards saw fear in the back of those eyes.

"In the event of the Tegmark reaching absolute zero," Victor said, "the multiverse will collapse, and nothing will be left in its place but darkness and eternal, crushing silence."

0-0-0-0-0

"Only one universe, ours, has Yggdrasill. It is the tree which connects the far corners of the universe, a virtual pathway across time and space," Thor was explaining to the man sitting in the corner of his cell. "Whatever this menace is, however powerful it may be, it will soon make its way from Midgard to Asgard, and then on throughout our universe." The man scoffed and hid behind his shaggy black hair.

"So the great and mighty Thor seeks advice from his Frost Giant brother?" Loki cracked from the corner of his cell. "Why do you need me? You've got the great hammer Mjölnir, surely nothing is out of your grasp, dear brother." The spite was lacerating, but Thor held his ground. "The mighty Thor, so proud of his strength, and here you are trying to ask for my lowly advice?"

Thor dropped Mjölnir on the ground and got down on one knee. "Brother please, I need to know if you know anything about this. In due time, I might even get father to let you join me on my side. But it is imperative I gain as much knowledge on this as possible if I am called in to combat." Thor looked up at Loki, who was watching with an amused look on his face. "Please Loki. I am begging you."

Loki sighed, looking at the ceiling. "You always did make things dramatic." There was a pause, then Loki looked back at Thor to speak. "I admit that I do not know anything about this. Nothing in my books spoke of this menace you tell me about now." Thor hung his head in resignation. "However," Loki added, "you may want to travel to the hall of Thanos and ask of him what you will. I'd be cautioned, however. Not only does he not like me, he hates you, and despises Asgardians."

"Then I will bring a friend," Thor answered, picking up Mjölnir and walking away from the cell. "Thank you for your help, Loki."

"Out of curiosity, who did you have in mind?" Loki asked. "Surely not that Bill fellow, he's quite the sight indeed." Thor slowly turned around and marched back to the cell, clearly offended by Loki's taunt.

"His name," Thor breathed, "is Beta Ray Bill."

0-0-0-0-0

"Don't like the looks of this," Beta Ray Bill mused, his trademark angry sneer on his equine face. He sounded almost like a southern sheriff with the way he cut the beginning of his sentence off. Thor nodded silently in agreement with Bill as they looked out to Thanos's ship, Sanctuary II. With help from the Bifröst, they had actually landed on a planet where Sanctuary II was temporarily docked for forced repairs to the engine. It was almost amusing, watching the goons under Thanos's control gather supplies in a hurry.

"We need to get to Thanos fast and get out of there faster," Thor said. Bill grunted in reply, looking out to the ship to see if there was a way they could get inside without being seen. "It would not please me to attack these beings in order to get to Thanos, and I'm sure he would not take to it kindly."

"It would give me great pleasure to destroy these creatures for what they do to innocent people across the universe," Bill seethed. "For what they do, they deserve as such." His grip tightened around Stormbreaker, and he could feel the power of his hammer pulse through his arm.

"This is going to sound crazy," Thor was saying, "but why don't we try just walking in right through the front door?"

"You're out of your mind," Bill snapped.

"It's a trick I learned on Earth. How did they put it? 'Walk in like you own the place' or something of that nature," Thor replied.

"The people of Earth have strange sayings," Bill said. "That's dishonesty to the creatures who actually own where they infiltrate."

"Would you like to go back to Asgard?" Thor said. "I'm sure Heimdallr would love to sweep you back on the Bifröst." Beta Ray Bill laughed out loud.

"You, alone, against Thanos and his army," Bill chuckled, standing up from behind the rocks they were hiding behind. "That's a laugh. Best get moving if we're going to do it now, and quietly. No sense in being Asgardian bilgesnipes about it."

Thor picked up Mjölnir and held it close to him for a moment, feeling the safety that came from his hammer. Then, letting it drop to his side, he followed Bill away from the rocks and down the hill. Across from them was Sanctuary II, and between them and the ship was a small green field. Thor and Beta Ray Bill tried their best to appear silent, stoic, and in charge as they approached the mighty ship. Thor's grip on Mjölnir tightened. Beta Ray Bill's stare intensified.

And to their surprise, not a single one of the goons of Thanos stopped them nor engaged them in battle. They bustled about, ignoring both Thor and Bill, allowing the pair to not only pass through the field unharmed but up into the ship itself. Thor looked to Bill, who looked back at Thor with something close to confusion on his face. The former merely shrugged and continued on, and the latter scoffed before following.

"I'll be damned," came the thick, powerful voice of Thanos as Thor and Beta Ray Bill entered the main hall. Thanos was sitting in a large metal chair in the center of the room, staring down at the pair with the fiery blaze of hatred and contempt in his eyes. He was not at all pleased to see them. "Thor and Bill, the boys who threw me off the throne, come to face me once more."

"Thanos," Thor called. "I come before you humbly, as well as willing to leave at your command. But before you decide what to do with me and my friend, I must tell you why we are here."

"What's stopping me from obliterating you where you stand Thor, Odinson?" Thanos's eyes were glowing a fierce red, and his hand was beginning to glow blue. "Why don't you give me a reason for not taking my revenge on you now, then moving on to destroy the others responsible for my defeat?"

"An event has occurred in Midgard which has shaken Odin Allfather to the bone," Thor answered. "I spoke to Heimdallr briefly before he sent us to this planet, and he told us of a man named Victor von Doom and a certain Tegmark device. Do you know of such a thing? I have reason to believe you do."

"It is true, I know of this device," Thanos said, the glow on his hand and in his eyes staying constant. "Victor von Doom is the smartest human on Earth, and his Tegmark device is a remarkable achievement in Earth science. But what does this matter to me? It is beneath my notice."

"Heimdallr has said that Victor registered an event on Earth scoring at 0.02 on the scale. If it means anything to you..." Thor trailed off. Thanos let air out of his nose, vibrating his throat in the process to make a 'hmm' sound, like a dragon heaving out a sigh after being asleep for one hundred years. The glow in his hands and eyes receded, and Bill noticed that Thanos saw them in a different light.

"Zero point zero two..." Thanos mused, leaning on his left hand.

"Thanos, we came here to ask you if you know anything of this," Bill finally cut in. "To be blunt, this is an enormous event, and we don't know what to expect. We came here to ask what you knew of this, if anything. You're older than many other species in this universe, so I assume you know what is going on."

"I do not," Thanos said, "though I fear this calamity you speak of. The only entity I can think of who is old enough to know of such a thing would be Galactus. But as you well know, Galactus is a nightmare whom I personally would not cross without good reason and planning." Thanos mused to himself for a moment longer. "Come to think of it, there is a better alternative. The Watchers are one of the oldest races in the universe, a peaceful and knowledgeable race, and the Watcher Uatu is responsible for the well-being of Earth. Go to him, and maybe you will find what you seek."

"Thank you, Thanos," Thor replied.

"A moment," Thanos interjected. "You have willingly sought out me and my services, as well as my ship. You have made it past my guards and I could use this moment to gain information from you, as you gained information from me. If you do not comply, I will kill you both." Beta Ray Bill knew immediately that Thanos was lying, though Thor was oblivious to this fact. Thanos meant to kill them both, regardless of what they said or did. Bill searched for a way out of his predicament.

"Very well," Thor said. "I suppose you have earned it. What is it you wish to know?"

"Heimdallr open the Bifröst!" Bill cried before Thanos could open his mouth, and the pair was swept away in a flash of rainbow light.

0-0-0-0-0

"It's a perfect day," Aaron said to himself, reclining gently in a rocking chair. Though he listed his home town as New York City, Aaron actually had a house outside of New York in the woodwork. It was a perfect place where he could see the city and the water around it as well. In the dying sunlight before the street lamps, headlights, and building lights swamped the world, the water sparkled like individual gems of diamond and crystal quartzite. It was beautiful.

"All these years I've missed, and now to be free at last," Aaron whispered. He closed his eyes and flashes of the nether dimensions came back. A place without sound or sight, neither darkness nor light, a place of literal nothing but Aaron himself. If there was a Hell, that would be it. Aaron opened his eyes and saw the sun glaring into his face.

"A bowl of real Chinese food sounds amazing for dinner," Aaron said to no one in particular. He stood up and brushed off his plain, nondescript clothes. He looked out to the horizon where the sun was still high enough to be seen brightly, but low enough to signify that it was indeed evening.

Then Aaron was gone. It was as if he simply stopped existing entirely. There was no flash of light, no puff of smoke, no psionic sound, no metallic sound, no rush of air, no outline of his body, no blip or whoosh or bang or ping. He was simply gone from reality, leaving no trace nor indication that he had ever been real at all.

The same time Aaron stopped existing in New York City, a man with long red hair, square glasses, and calm blue eyes walked into a stir-fry restaurant in Xi'an, China.


	3. Interview

"Victor," Reed said without warning, staring at his computer screen. Von Doom was currently fiddling around with makeshift models of his own equipment which he and Reed had managed to synthesize quickly. When his name was put into the air, Victor looked up and saw Reed staring at a screen with interest. Sighing, Victor got up and walked across the room.

"Look at this," Reed said, moving aside to point to a blinking red dot. It was located just outside of New York City, just into the woodwork. Victor narrowed his eyes, but did not say anything. "This screen is wirelessly hooked up to your Tegmark scale. As far as I can see, it's still tracking the movements of our newfound event. This point right here is where the event is registering right now." Reed suddenly frowned and looked over to Victor. "Why didn't you just bring your Tegmark scale with you when you came here?"

"Hard to lug a machine the size of a house halfway across the world," Victor replied dryly.

"Thank goodness for VPN," Reed said, turning back to the screen. "Anyways, it looks to me that the event is only a few miles away from the edge of New York City. Shouldn't be longer than a two hour drive in this traffic."

"Two hours is positively outrageous," Victor complained. "We should fly there."

"Not a good idea to dash in guns blazing," Reed said. "What happens if this event takes it the wrong way and attacks? Based on how high it scored on the Tegmark, we wouldn't even be able to move an atom before getting demolished. No, I recommend a more tactical approach. Ideas?" Victor stood up from the screen and walked away, pacing the floor. Every time Victor was pacing, he was thinking.

"How about we go and act like we're reporters for a big-shot magazine?" Victor offered. "We could be doing a story about the life outside of New York City as opposed to the life inside of New York City. I could get fake credentials with ease."

"How do you propose to do that?" Reed asked.

"Come now Reed," Victor was saying with a sly smile on his face, "even I have to have contacts. I'll make some phone calls, get some things arranged, and we can leave in..." He checked his watch. "We can leave in about an hour."

"I'll be dogged, Victor," Reed said with approval. "Just one thing. What makes you think the event will talk to us? Or even speak the same language as us? There's a ton of variables that can't be accounted for which calls for deeper thought."

"You're such a spoil-sport, Reed," Victor chastised. "I call this a hunch, and you know what? To hell with your variables. I say we should wing it and just go for it. You know what that's called? Following your gut. Not overanalyzing. Intuition. It's something you never managed to get down, Reed."

"Shame on me, then," Reed defended. "Make your phone calls, I'll let Susan know I'm going out for a bit."

"What about Ben and Jonathan?"

"They're probably watching a fighting show," Reed said. "It's a Saturday, so I think we should be clear on them as well. Ben wasn't too happy that you came over to visit, by the way. He's still got a bit of a tense feeling towards you." Victor smiled and pulled out his cell phone, stepping into the hallway to make his phone calls. Reed turned back and looked again at the blinking red dot. His stomach dropped at the foreboding feeling that swept through him when he turned his eyes to the numeral "0.02" flashing in a box in the corner of the screen.

0-0-0-0-0

Aaron pulled the heavy box laying on his doorstep inside of his cabin house. It was midmorning, and the birds were singing their screechy, lovely, and repetitive sounds. Already Aaron could hear the car horns blaring from New York City as traffic piled up in the morning rush to get to work. Aaron had always wondered why no one left early to get to work, why people always seemed to rush at the last minute to get things done. He laughed heartily and shrugged the thought off, starting to peel off the tape from the box.

As Aaron unpacked his mail, his mind began to wander. Images of deep, rolling hills with bright sunshine lingered in his mind. The feeling of wind dashing up the mountainside and flying up his face was another image. The smell of the ocean on a summer's day, the feeling of riding a bicycle down a long path that lead to nowhere, the sensation of climbing a tree in the spring; these were all things Aaron wondered about. These were things he wished to try, wished to feel, wanted to experience for himself.

Aaron pulled a harp out of the cardboard box. It was the first time he had ever ordered something in the mail, and he found the experience oddly satisfying. Waiting and waiting for the truck to show up, only to have it show up when he least expected it, was something Aaron had never done before. He inspected his new treasure, a Venus Gold Baroque Polonaise model. The strings were in mint condition. The custom gold leaf which covered the wood was beautiful. He plucked a string, and then instantly tuned it as it was a few cents flat. Aaron tuned every string to his liking, then plucked a D major arpeggio. He smiled happily. These were things he had longed to try forever.

A sharp knock at his door took his attention from the harp. Aaron stood and set the harp upright next to his chair. As he walked down the hallway, he passed the kitchen where no stoves were lit, no table or chairs existed, the drawers were empty, and the refrigerator wasn't even plugged in. Aaron opened the door and, to his surprise, Reed Richards and Victor von Doom stood before him.

"Morning sir," Reed said. "My name is John Parker, and this is my associate Jerry Speights." Aaron politely shook both of their hands. "We're from the New York Times, doing a story on life outside of the Big Apple as opposed to life inside. We were wondering if you had time to spare for an interview."

"Of course gentlemen," Aaron said, not bothering to point out that neither of them were who they said they were. Aaron didn't need to own a television to know those faces. "My name is Aaron. Please come in and have something to eat before we conduct this interview. I was just about to finish making an omelette." As Reed and Victor walked in, their noses were assailed with the heavenly smells of brunch cooking and bacon frying. They both felt their stomaches gurgle in hunger, and Reed realized he hadn't eaten in almost three days.

Aaron opened the fridge and produced a fresh carton of eggs from his fully-stocked fridge. On the lit stove, an omelette was just about done cooking and the bacon was hissing in its grease. Victor sat down at the table and found the chair to be perfectly comfortable. Reed offered to help cook, but Aaron insisted that he simply set the table and gather drinks for everyone. Reed opened up a drawer to find it filled with napkins and utensils, the latter freshly washed and put away. As he set the table, Aaron finished cooking two more omelettes faster than Victor had seen anyone cook anything. Reed sat down just in time for Aaron to put out the food and pour the orange juice. Victor asked for cranberry-raspberry juice, which Aaron quickly supplied for his guest. From a cupboard Aaron produced croissants and from the fridge came fresh fruit. To the famished Reed and Victor, it was a 5-star breakfast.

Reed took the first bite of his omelette and nearly fainted. The taste was absolutely incredible. He reached for a croissant and added it to his plate, as well as some fresh fruit. He took a piece of the bacon and chewed it carefully, then greedily. The hot grease was fantastic, and when Reed washed it all down with a swing of orange juice, he never felt happier in his entire life.

Victor, on the other hand, ate all of his food with gusto. He didn't bother eating slowly to savor the tastes. He ate what he wanted and drank as much as he wanted. Each bite was delicious, yes, but not to the level of delectable that Reed was experiencing.

Aaron ate delicately. He chose his food carefully and ate silently. Reed and Victor both praised Aaron on the level of taste put into the food, and Reed thanked him for opening up his house to two strangers so easily. Aaron simply nodded and smiled, then continued eating.

When all was said and done, Reed and Victor were both full to the brim. Aaron asked for them to leave for the living room so he could clean, and it seemed like the pair were hardly sitting down when Aaron came into the room. The man sat down in a wooden chair situated in front of a long leather couch, where both Reed and Victor were sitting. Next to Aaron was a huge, professional-level, golden harp. Reed felt his wallet burning passively thinking about how much it must have cost.

"What would you gentlemen like to know?" Aaron asked, diving straight into the questions.

"What do you do out here, Mr. Aaron?" Victor asked. "Could you give us a run-down of your day-to-day life?"

"In the morning, I get up and immediately go outside," Aaron replied. "I sit on my rocking chair on the porch outside and wait for the sunrise. It's nothing like the sunrise in the mountains, I hear, so I intend to move there someday when I can leave New York City. After that, I usually make myself some breakfast. A good portion of the day is spent walking around the woods outside, though now that I have my new harp, I intend to spend a good portion of the day playing my harp as well. Around dinner time I start to gather things for dinner, then I make dinner itself after washing up and showering. For the remainder of the evening I read a book, and then I light a fire in my fireplace and fall asleep upstairs in my bed." Aaron smiled softly. "As you can tell, I do not have a heater. If I want it to be cold in here, which is rare unless it is the summer, I will turn on the air conditioner."

"Those must be your weekends," Reed mused. "Where do you work?"

"I'm retired, actually," Aaron said. "The only work I do is cleaning up my house when I need to. I just moved back in, so there's not a lot. I was spending a few years on the road, you see. The living room is the only place aside from my bedroom which has furniture. The fireplace is located in the family room, adjacent to this room." Aaron gestured behind him, and through the doorway Reed and Victor could see an empty bonus room and the edges of a fireplace.

"How did you manage to retire at such a young age?" Victor asked.

"I've worked since I was a very young boy, and even though child labor is illegal here in America, I still got work. When I saved enough money, I bought my own parcel of land out here above New York City and put the rest in the bank for emergency use only. I knew this land would be mine when I was old enough to build upon it, and just a few weeks ago I finished this house. I built the air conditioner myself so that it doesn't actually run on electricity, but on the pulling in of air itself. The fridge and stoves are powered the same way, by my own design."

"That's amazing!" Reed exclaimed, and he honestly was amazed. Something of that magnitude in the realm of science was either too bulky to work, or too impractical to be mass-produced. Yet Aaron seemed to make it work.

"Is that all you do in your spare time?" Victor pressed. "Read books, walk around, and now play your harp? It must be a boring life here."

"To the enlightened mind, Mr. Speights, this place has a hundred thousand wonders that will never get old," Aaron responded. "Plus there is always the house itself to take care of, so I'm never bored."

"I think that's all the information we need," Reed said, looking at Victor for approval, who merely nodded. "Thank you for your time, Mr. Aaron. But tell me, do you have any experience with the harp? I'd love to hear something from you."

"When I retired, I was 14 years old. I am now 20. I used to play the harp every day when I bought my first one, at the age of 15. I played it all the time for the people I met as I traveled for nearly six years, the last two being without my harp. My last one broke the day after my 18th birthday. I had enough interest from those years to purchase another fine harp if I so wanted, but I wanted one that would last forever. So I saved up for a few more years, then I bought the one you see before you." Aaron moved his harp into position. "This is a Venus Gold Baroque Polonaise gold leafed harp. It is a professional-level harp that is rarely used in orchestras, but more for personal use. I hope you'll enjoy this performance."

With that said, Aaron closed his eyes. To Victor's surprise, as he was actually more of a classical music fan than Reed was, Aaron began to play a beautiful rendition of Prelude to Op. 23, number 4 by Sergei Rachimanov. It was arranged for harp, though if Victor's memory served him correctly the original was for piano solo. It was rare to see Victor von Doom smile with pleasure, and this was one of those rare moments. After he had finished playing, Aaron looked to the pair across from him. Victor was stunned and Reed was silent.

"Thank you, that was wonderful," Victor commented.

"My pleasure," Aaron replied heartily.

"We'll be on our way now," Reed said, standing. Reluctantly, Victor stood as well, his eyes still attached to the gorgeous harp. Aaron watched Victor carefully, his calm blue eyes never blinking as he inspected Victor's face. "Thank you for your time."

"Any time!" Aaron said, standing to shake Reed's hand. "I do hope to read the story when it is published, Mr. Parker. Good luck to you." Reed pulled Victor away and the two left the house without another word.

When all was once again silent, Aaron laughed out loud. It was a happy sound, not a malicious sound. He smiled openly and warmly, and then was gone from sight. There was no sound, no whoosh of air, no flash of light, no bang or crack or ping. He simply ceased to be.

In the house, all was silent. The empty kitchen, with stoves unlit and refrigerator unused, with neither table nor tablecloth, sat barren though it was clean. The harp sat upright in the living room next to a wooden chair, and sunlight streamed in through the family room onto the brick bottom of the fireplace. All was quiet in the house a few miles outside of New York City.


	4. The Watcher

"Well?" Odin asked as Thor barged into the royal bedroom without knocking. Not only did he look upset, he also looked like someone had made a fool out of him.

"I will not mix words father," Thor said. "I went to see Thanos. I took Beta Ray Bill with me for safety and companionship. Thanos almost tricked me into revealing some information I know not, but I think it might have hurt Asgard." Thor tossed Mjölnir on the ground in front of him and got on his knees. "After Bill chastised me for my foolishness, I tried to defend myself by defending Thanos's right to a fair trade. When Bill pointed out the flaw in my reasoning, I felt like a fool. I do not feel fit to bear the burden of Mjölnir."

"Come now Thor," Odin said, pulling his son to his feet. "No one is more worthy than you to hold Mjölnir. Bill may have been able to pick it up once, but Mjölnir chose you first and foremost. Remember that." Odin gave Thor a pat on the back, smiling. "You will make mistakes, my boy. Everyone will make mistakes. When the time comes for me to pass into the halls of Valhalla, and you become king, you will understand this."

"There will never be a greater king than you," Thor replied. Odin chuckled, tapping Mjölnir with Gungnir.

"We shall see," Odin said, a twinkle in his eye. "Take up arms, my boy, and gather your things. Heimdallr has told me where you are to go next." Odin stepped away from Thor, heading back out to the balcony. Thor cast a longing glance at Mjölnir, then picked it up slowly, following Odin to the balcony.

"Beta Ray Bill will not be joining me this time," Thor said. "I will travel by myself to the tower of the Watcher named Uatu. I do not fear him, he is aligned with the Fantastic Four. I will ask of him this being which has been found on Earth, and what it is capable of. From there I will return to Asgard and plan what I will do next."

"Be wary," Odin said. "Uatu is a Watcher, after all. They are powerful cosmic beings capable of virtually anything. Just know that, my boy."

"Uatu is on the side of good," Thor replied. "I am not afraid of meeting with him." Odin turned to his son, the Allfather's old eye going over Thor once or twice. Thor was calm and strong, watching Odin look him over. Thor looked at his father. Once a mighty warrior, the Allfather was not as strong as he was in his prime, but powerful nevertheless.

"Good luck, Thor," Odin finally said, turning away while leaning on Gungnir. He did not speak again, and Thor quietly slipped out of the room.

0-0-0-0-0

Heimdallr's eyes looked across the cosmos to planet Earth. For the most part, all was quiet in the rooms of the Baxter Building. The only one with the light on was in Reed Richard's study. Heimdallr listened in as Victor and Reed talked excitedly about someone by the name of Aaron. Victor apparently thought that Aaron was a fake, and Reed thought that Aaron was hiding something huge. Heimdallr didn't know what to make of the jabber, nor what he should tell the approaching Thor.

"Hemidallr," Thor said as he landed in the entryway of Himinbjörg, where the Bifröst meets Asgard. "I would like to travel to Earth's moon so I may speak with a being known as the Watcher."

"You gave Asgard quite the scare when you destroyed the Bifröst," Heimdallr responded without turning from his place at the edge of space and Himinbjörg. "When I heard that you had destroyed the rainbow bridge, I feared that if a calamity were to arise and the people of Asgard jeopardized, we would be unable to escape."

"I am sorry about your bridge," Thor apologized, knowing how much Heimdallr loved the Bifröst. "But this is a matter of great urgency. Earth is experiencing a calamity and I must have information on it as soon as I can. Heimdallr, will you let me pass?"

At the word calamity, a light sparked in Heimdallr's mind. He recalled Reed Richards and Victor von Doom communicating about a man named Aaron. He remembered something about a number close to zero, and something about a device called the Tegmark scale. Heimdallr drew a rough conclusion that Thor and Reed were talking about the same thing, and as such, did not mention it to him.

"If you would like to visit the Watcher," Heimdallr said after a moment, turning around to face Thor, "I will transport you there. But note that what you may hear from the Watcher of Earth may not be the news you would have most liked to hear at all." Heimdallr took his place in the center of the room and lowered his great sword into the heart of the Bifröst. "Take care of yourself, Thor. Take up my name when you are ready to return."

Thor looked out to the cosmos and lost himself in the emptiness and vastness of outer space. In one moment, his eyes were filled with endless black coupled with nebulae. In another moment, he was swept away as the Bifröst blasted him from Asgard to the moon of Earth.

0-0-0-0-0

Aaron looked up from his book _All Quiet on the Western Front_; something had caught his attention. It was currently well into the evening and the sun was just about gone from the sky. He placed a bookmark back into his novel and placed it on the couch. When Aaron was outside on the porch, he could see the moon over the edge of the endless abyss of the ocean. He blinked only once, then smiled.

"Asgardian company," Aaron said. "Here to talk with Uatu." He folded his arms and shook his head. "Everyone's making such a big deal over me. They're acting like I'm Galactus on cocaine." Aaron put his hands behind his head and leaned back on the air, watching the moon. He continued to smile. "Well Thor is gonna get the history he was looking for, one way or another. Nothing to do now but wait, wait and play my harp."

Aaron turned around and walked into his home, closing the door softly.

Immediately he came back out and was standing on his doorstep.

"Or!" Aaron exclaimed. "Or I could go into New York City and find a skatepark! I've always wanted to try skateboarding, I'm sure it's nowhere near as hard as people make it out to be." In a flash he had ironically changed his clothes into that of a stereotypical skater. He donned long, swept-over black hair, a hoodie, a black beanie with a flat rim to keep the sun out of his eyes, baggy pants, and obtained a skateboard that had been well-loved in a previous life. Grinning widely from his change in appearance, Aaron pulled an iPod out of the air and stuck an earbud in his right ear.

Then, as was his trademark, he simply ceased to be. No flashy movement, no sound of air displacement, no explosion, nothing. Erased from existence, the simplest and most conservative way to move in time and space.

0-0-0-0-0

"I've been expecting you, Thor," Uatu said in a strange, cosmic voice. "Please, make yourself comfortable. I will be with you momentarily." Thor looked around at the humble abode. It was fashioned after what was called modern setting on Earth, and all of the couches and chairs looked comfortable. The Watcher's tower wasn't so much of a tower as it was a small, flat house which blended perfectly into the rocks.

Uatu was the only thing wrong with the picture. He was floating in the middle of the room, legs crossed, hands placed on his knees. From Thor's speculation, he could guess that Uatu's eyes were closed. Thor picked a chair and allowed himself to settle down. Luckily, Heimdallr had managed to blast him literally right in front of the front door. Thor only had to wait a few seconds. There was no reason for him to need to hold his breath in space.

"You came to ask me about the strange things which trouble your father," Uatu said, descending to the ground without extending his legs. When he landed cross-legged on the floor, Thor realized that Uatu had made a turn-around in order to face him. Uatu looked like a bald human, except he wore a toga and had frightening white eyes. Uatu looked directly at Thor, peeling back the layers of the god's mind with ease. Thor was accustomed to telepathic probing, and allowed it.

"Thanos sent you here," Uatu said. "You asked him of an entity on Earth, and subsequently told your father what you had found. After I tell you the answers to your questions, you will then proceed to go home and plan what you will do next." Uatu closed his eyes and rose into the air, turning his back on Thor. He did not speak for some time, and Thor remained politely silent.

"I will take this time to visit my personal library at the center of this moon," Uatu said. "I will read what my people have gathered about this event, and when I have gained what I believe to be sufficient knowledge, I will do my best to answer your questions."

"My thanks to you, Watcher," Thor said.

"I will be back momentarily. I will tunnel backwards in time and walk up those stairs—" Uatu pointed to a staircase leading downwards into another part of the house "—five seconds after I leave this place."

"I will wait for you," Thor said. Without reply, Uatu vanished with a brilliant flash of light and the sound of a gunshot. Thor looked to the stairs and, much to his surprise, Uatu came stumbling up the stairs. This wasn't your average 'whoops, missed a step' stumbling. This was a 'I just read a Stephen King book with a flashlight during a thunderstorm' kind of stumbling. Uatu's face was slicked with sweat, something that Thor honestly thought was impossible for cosmic beings.

"Forgive me Thor," Uatu said breathlessly. He crossed the room hurriedly and sat down on the couch, cradling his head in one of his hands. "I have been... Compromised. I found something deep in the pits of my people's knowledge base I wish I had not found."

"Does it pertain to what troubles my father?" Thor asked. Uatu was quiet for a while, seeming to think over his response, but in the end he never answered.

"I will answer your questions now," Uatu finally said. "Any you have, except one drawing parallels between what my people know and what anyone else in the universe believes or doesn't believe. I cannot interfere with those people's cultures."

"What is this occurrence? Has it a name, a purpose, a weakness?" Uatu swallowed nervously and scratched his head. This was the first time Thor had seen a cosmic being frightened and anxious.

"This occurrence's name is Aaron," Uatu began. "His only purpose is to live and seek his own personal freedom, whatever the costs. And he is older than any being currently living in this universe. Galactus is several billion years old, but even he is still young compared to Aaron. Odin, Zeus, even you, Thor. All young compared to him. Babies, even."

"Where did he come from?" Uatu hesitated again, looking away from Thor's eyes. When he looked into his eyes again, Uatu crumbled and covered his face, sobbing. Astonishment flashed through Thor's face.

"I can't do it!" Uatu cried. "I can't do it! That darkness, that horrible silence!"

"Watcher!" Thor shouted. "Hold yourself firm! What bewitches you?"

"I do not wish to tell you the history, it is a black tale full of mistakes," Uatu whispered, pulling himself away from Thor.

"You promised to answer my questions, no matter what they are," Thor reminded the Watcher. "I expect you to honor your agreement with me." Uatu didn't stir for a while, but when he realized that he did indeed have a promise to keep, Uatu sat up. He dried his eyes and looked at Thor. He was terrified.

"What mighty beast causes such fear to you, a powerful cosmic being?" Thor asked. "Tell me the story of this Aaron and why he is such a thing to be feared."

"I weep not only out of fear," Uatu said, "but out of shame for what we as the multiverse did to him."

"Then tell me the story," Thor demanded, and knowing that he would not leave without hearing the story, proceeded to lean back on the chair.

"The file I found containing the story was written by the oldest living Watcher. He was told the story by the Grand Watcher, who was told the story by the Ancient Watcher, who was told the story by the First Watcher. In the beginning before time, there were five sentient beings created by the highest being of all. The First Watcher was one of them, and Aaron was another. I will not reveal the identity of the other three. There was nothing but chaos in a place known as The Emptiness, where neither time nor matter existed. Only the souls of the first five beings of the universe moved through this chaos. Aaron was the most powerful of them all, stronger than all of the five beings but not to that of the highest. The five sentients owed their lives to this higher being, but Aaron did not want to be a slave to this higher being. He demanded freedom to live a life for himself, but he was refused. Furious, Aaron destroyed the wasteland of chaos, and created the first tangible matter, a palace for himself. The highest was not pleased, and commanded Aaron to step down and repent. Aaron refused, and the highest struck him down off of his throne. But Aaron struck back, and a great battle ensued between the highest with his four sentients and Aaron alone. Aaron was defeated, and in order to ensure that he would never return, the highest created the first universe. The four other sentients, and yes the First Watcher as well, created smaller universes, hundreds of them. They forced Aaron into bondage, tossing him into a nether dimension of the First Watcher's creation. Around the door they built the Cage of Universes to trap him, and locked him with the Key to the Nether Dimension, so he would never return to seek freedom. To seek what all beings are entitled to have. Freedom of choice and decision."

Thor was silent. Though he had expected some gruesome tale of hacking and slashing bodies and burning cities to the ground, this was more of a sad tale. The first being to seek freedom had been imprisoned forever, all for wanting to live a life for himself instead of for another. Thor felt his heart go out to the man.

"But what happened next?" Thor asked.

"Aaron broke out of the nether dimension. I do not know how, but he did. The First Watcher said that should Aaron ever break out of the Cage of Universes, the multiverse will never be safe again. Aaron will either live his life quietly, or be so full of pure rage that he will wipe the very face of existence out of existence."

"Impossible!" Thor exclaimed. "There is no being in this universe or other universes capable of such a feat!"

"You forget," Uatu commented. "Aaron is not of this universe, or any universe. He nature is not of passive watching like that of the highest. He has not died like the original four sentients. When time began, he was exempted from that curse as he was trapped in the nether dimension. He will live forever, for all time, in both bleak chaos and healthy universe. Time will never scratch him. The physics of any universe does not apply to him, as he was exempt from those rules due to his imprisonment. With him being created in the original chaos, Aaron is undiluted and pure. He is capable of anything he desires, and I mean anything. No one can stop him if he so chooses, not in this universe or any other."

"I see now where your fear comes from," Thor replied.

"I am glad," Uatu said. "I hope you will give up this foolish endeavor."

"I cannot," Thor said. "If the safety of Earth is threatened, I will be called in to assist. And I cannot refuse the horn of my allies. I must answer the call to battle. I guess I will not know this fear until I face him."

"If you are lucky, Thor Odinson, you will never have to experience the horror of facing Aaron on the field of battle," Uatu said gravely.


End file.
